Emerson and Me...

Monday, March 8, 2010

you read that right...i am blogging again but started a new blog since i have a new addition to the family. come follow my new blog called "two of everything but me"....the website is www.twoofeverythingbutme.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 5, 2009

wondering what i am talking about? well, as you all know, emerson sleeps in an amby baby hammock. i have loved the hammock and all that it has to offer in the year that we have used it. emerson has always slept so well in it and its really been great. however, eventually she needs to sleep in her crib. by eventually, i mean BEFORE newbaby is born!

i feel bad making her transition out of it and honestly, i am afraid that she wont sleep as well in the crib as she does in the hammock. she cant possibly sleep in the hammock forever though (even though the spring will hold up to 45lbs!)

so....i keep procrastinating. i was going to transition her after i went back home with her in october. however, when i got back, i realized that her room was in shambles and there was a ton of stuff piled in her crib. so i have been working on this and trying to get things organized. i guess i could have just tossed everything on the floor and put her in the crib, but i am procrastinating... hehe..

so now its november. and i plan to go home for thanksgiving. so now i am thinking that maybe i should just wait until after thanksgiving to transition her to the crib. that way she can sleep in the hammock while i am home. its familiar to her and she doesnt sleep as well back at my parents house as she does in her own room...so i hate to transition her to a crib and then make her sleep in the pack and play (which she HATES). i think she wouldnt sleep at all in gloucester.

so i think i might have just made up my mind. i think i am going to procrastinate further and transition her after thanksgiving. of course, that is cutting it a little close. i am hoping that the transition doesnt take longer than a week or two. it cant possibly take a month right?

well.....if need be, i know i can always borrow another amby baby hammock from a friend for newbaby! hehe..

Saturday, October 31, 2009

well...over a year has passed since emerson was born...and i cant believe it! it went by so quickly and it was so amazing to watch her grow and change over the past year. this time last year she was a cute, teeny little baby blob. today she is a silly, excitable, walking little girl. its amazing. she says lots of words and is a snuggle bug. she loves her momma :) ...maybe a little too much. she is awfully attached but i dont mind most of the time. hehe.

anyway, she had her one year appointment. just to compare, here are her newborn stats:length: 19.25 inchesweight: 6lbs 11ozhead:14 inches

yep...she has a BIG noggin!! haha. takes after her dad and his big noggin!

her birthday party went great and almost everyone showed up. she loved her cupcake. she was a little weirded out at first but got into the swing of things eventually. after eating and opening her presents, we all went outside and the kids played in the leaves.

anyway, here are some pics, in reverse chronological order since i never remember that this blog posts things opposite....

on her actual birthday we got her ears pierced and got her some cold stone creamery ice cream!

playing in the leaves at her bday party birthday cupcake face!

first bite of the cupcake...examining the situation

emerson's halloween and bday costume...a little devil, just like her auntie ashley!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

well, after a crazy month that left me with not much time and very unmotivated to do much of anything (hey, i am pregnant after all!!), i am back! sorry it has taken so long to update again and i know people were sitting around anxiously awaiting my next post!

a few things i wanted to touch on before i get to the "what emerson is up to these days" part. first, i doubt i will post videos on this blog anymore. sorry. it is wayyy too much of a pain to do it. i have to download the videos and then convert them to an online format and then upload them onto this site. the whole process takes over a half hour for a 30 second video....much longer for a long video. so, if you want to see videos, check my facebook because its much quicker there (and i have 2 videos to post tonight).

also, i am linking up with my friend kim for a new site that she is running www.mamaneedsthis.com . i am helping to write reviews on products for the site. its a cool site, though still in the beginner stages but we are working on adding content. its a neat site and will be loaded with reviews of great products that moms could really use. you should go check out the site and see what is up there. i wrote 2 of the reviews already, and hope/plan to do more. i am in the process of contacting companies to get products to review, but in the meantime i reviewed some kick butt products that moms need (and i so happen to already own!). anyway, in addition to checking out that site, you should go check out her other site, which is mainly for green related baby products and cloth diapering. she does lots of giveaways and stuff... its www.dirtydiaperlaundry.com (see link in my sidebar)

so...emersons 1st birthday is approaching soon!!! i dont know if i should be jumping up and down with excitement or if i should crawl into a ball and cry :( i cant believe its been almost a year!!! and newbaby's birthdate isnt too much further past that! (Still no name yet in case you are wondering!) i am excited about emersons birthday party, which is next weekend. its gonna be pretty small, but then again, my house is tiny...haha. it couldnt be a big party if i wanted it to be! its halloween themed...and every party from now until she can protest will be halloween themed. haha! so grandparents (and everyone else), get your costumes ready! emerson is going to be something super cute for halloween, but i wont say yet..i will post pics eventually though.

i also should probably update a little on this pregnancy. i feel like i should start a new blog after the new baby is born, but i hate to leave this one behind. i wish i had come up with a more neutral web address since it is obviously emerson-specific. is it unfair to newbaby to just include her on this website?? well, regardless, i will post updates on the pregnancy here and there on this site for now and figure it out later. anyway, all that being said, as i mentioned above, newbaby doesnt have a name yet. we are still in discussions regarding it and are having a hard time agreeing on names. i think our top favorites now are: eli, tessa and amalie. i am not sure which one is my absolute favorite but brads favorite is eli. i have a feeling that eli might be the name to win out, but maybe we will just wait and see what she looks like and go from there. we have had the middle name picked out since we started talking names. well, there are technically 2 middle names we know we are using.....not sure if we will pick one of the 2 or if we will use both and have newbaby have 2 middle names like emerson does. it will depend on which first name we go with i guess, since one of the 2 names doesnt flow well with most names. its a secret though so dont bother trying to get it out of me!! (hey, gotta have some sort of secrets since you all know its another girl and i am sharing first names. i knew i couldnt keep either a secret but i can keep the middle name a secret a lot easier).

on my end, pregnancy is going well. tired as usual and feeling kinda round, but i guess both are to be expected. haha. its hard having enough motivation and energy for emerson. mom, i dont know how you did it....especially since michael was hellbaby. props to you. just in case anyone was wondering, i do plan to have a vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean) this time. well, i hope to anyway. i found a doctor/midwife team that is very supportive and i feel really confident that they will help me achieve my goal. i am also working on seeing if i can get a doula but finances might make it impossible. i am hoping that i can have the natural childbirth that i wanted last time, this time. :) cross your fingers for me!

lastly, emerson updates! she is "talking" up a storm, having conversations with everyone and everything. she doesnt make much sense but does say certain "real" words. in addition to mama and dada, she says cat, kitty, doggie, dante (one of our cats names), tickle tickle tickle (she never says it just once...haha) and some other words i probably am forgetting. she will say words once sometimes and then wont say it again. she is also walking, or at least on the brink of walking. i decided that saying your kid can walk is subjective. she takes many steps in a row, but isnt walking full time. she will prefer to walk over crawl though...she will only crawl if she cant stand up first or after she falls from walking and is still trying to get somewhere. i think within the next few weeks she is going to be walking full time. she also claps for herself and others and is making the funniest face ever when she eats. i will have to have brad get a video of it because it is seriously the most funny and cutest thing ever.

okay...so this is seriously long!! lots to catch up on though. i will try to upload some pics soon, but until then, go watch some videos of her on facebook!!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

so we went to the state fair on wednesday with our friends. it was a good, but long day! here are some pics from the day and a few videos at the end so you can see how big and grown up emerson is getting. hehe. i miss her being a baby blob!

she actually found a 4 leaf clover! but she ripped it apart before i could grab it and save it!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

okay...as i mentioned before, some people are asking what to get emerson for her birthday. we are obviously open to any ideas or gifts that you would want to get and even if you dont want to get any, thats fine too. but i did want to make a list of things in case people wanted ideas for her birthday, or even for christmas. some stuff is cheap, and others are probably something that people would pitch in if interested. her birthday is going to be the sunday of columbus day weekend, which i think is oct 11th or something.

anyway, her friend has a kitchen set and i think it would be cool for her to have one too. she liked to play with it and it would be nice for both her and new baby to play with as they get older. i did some research on different ones and wasnt so interested in the cheapie plastic ones since they crack and break and generally dont last as long....so here is the one i found (i love the color and that its a retro kitchen:http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53156-Red-Vintage-Kitchen/dp/B001FP3WZO/ref=pd_sbs_t_5

some food would be good too. i dont have any specific one chosen, although i like the wooden food more than plastic food with those cheapie cardboard boxes that last all of 5 seconds. i looked around on amazon but i didnt want to post a link because this is probably something that you could buy in a store, like a toy store or target, and not pay shipping. also, it would be good to see it in person and figure out whether its a choking hazard. since i couldnt see the sizes online i am not going to link to anything...but playfood is good.

developmentally appropriate toys. toys that take brain power to figure out how they work.

please dont buy elmo or dora or any other "character" type stuff. we are trying to keep media exposure to a minimum. hehe. plus she doesnt care for any of those characters and we kind of want to keep it that way!

so...obviously there are a million other things that would be great for her as well but those are some suggestions if you cant think of anything. we appreciate anything you would choose to buy.

we plan to get her balls to make a ball pit out of her pack and play or her blow up swimming pool. she loves balls and the ballpit at the ymca so i think she will like it. i also might take her to build a bear so she can make her own teddy, although i have no idea how much that costs so i might skip that. hehe.

if you are coming to her bday party....and you are all invited, make sure you are thinking of what your costume is going to be! its a halloween party!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

ahhhhh.....all it at peace. hehe.. i woke emerson up bright and early today (8am..she usually sleeps till 9-930am) and got her all dressed and ready and we jetted out of the house to go meet with a certified car seat technician. did you know you are supposed to get your car seat checked? yeah, well apparently most people dont and up to 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly!! so anyway, i wanted to double check on her carseat and make sure we were all up to par and safe. so off we went to the police station for our 830am appt. turns out i had things pretty much okay...phew. there was one adjustment...instead of using the seatbelt clip to lock the seatbelt, the tech took it off and did some fancy tightening with the seatbelt that i wasnt able to master, so the carseat is now tighter than i could get it. she also mentioned that i should get rid of that mirror to see emerson in the backseat and also the side window shades. i kind of ignored that though. i cant NOT watch her in the mirror. it might be an addiction, and i knew those things arent supposed to be used. i wonder why they are allowed to make and sell them if they arent safe during a crash? i am super obsessed with carseats and carseat safety (so you would think i would take out the mirror...hehe) and i might look up what it takes to get certified myself. not sure if i can or what i would do with that certification but it seems like a good thing to get certified in.

anyway, we got home and i walked emerson over to starbucks for a little java fix....for me, not her! hehe. when e got back i figured it would be cheerios time but emerson decided that she had wnough of being awake this early and wanted to go back to bed. and who am i to stop a tired baby from sleeping so that i can have a hour or so of time to myself??? exactly....so i put her to bed and now have a few moments to breathe and chill...and enjoy my peppermint mocha from starbucks. not only that but since emerson hasnt been up long today, there isnt a mess in the livingroom prompting me to clean it. yay!! (granted there are dishes to wash but i am selectively ignoring them. hehe)

onto other news...i am now 21 weeks preggo. i am starting to get a little belly and its soo weird being pregnant again. i kind of keep forgetting and then the baby moves and reminds me. sometimes i am really excited about the idea of having another baby, since i never wanted emerson to be an only child, but other times i am just really stressed about the whole thing...especially money. luckily i still have most of the stuff for emerson, and there are some things i stupidly got rid of because i wasnt planning to have another so soon, and we had no where to store stuff. so i gave away some clothes, but luckily kept the stuff i really loved. i will probably need to get the stuff i stored down from the attic and see what we need. i know i gave away most of the onesies and the winter sleep sacks, so i will probably need to buy those again. all the other big stuff i can use again, although i hate the bouncer i have for emerson. its my own fault, since i registered for it, but you never really know what is good until you have a baby in it. i hated it and i want to sell it or something and get a papasan one that will actually bounce.

i already bought a double stroller, used off craigslist. i love it and used it with emerson and her buddy fletcher. it steers so nice but i know that it will be a pain to store since when its folded it takes up the whole back part of my car. i wish i could wake up one day and have my honda element back or another suv. i would consider trading my car in if i actually had a job. something tells me that they wont let me buy a car with no job. hehe. plus, thanks to working at whitesboro, my car has like 70,000 miles or something on it...and its a 2008!! i doubt i would get much for trading it in, even though a lot of people like honda fits cuz they are good on gas.

hmmm..what else?? oh, i am buying another dresser for the new baby's clothes to go in. i found it already on craigslist (someday i will be rich and actually be able to buy things NEW...and things that MATCH. hehe). its a baby armoire that has 3 drawers, 2 shelves and a part to hang clothes. so it will be nice to have....even though its white and totally doesnt match anything in the room (and you cant paint it cuz its got like that plastic veneer or whatever on it). i figure if i get stuff gradually then it wont seem as overwhelming of an expense.

anyway, this post is waayyy long. hope someone is still reading! hehe. in the coming weeks i am planning emersons bday party...to be held in ny (sorry massachusetts people! but if you want to come to ny, you are invited! let me know if you want to come and i will send you an invite, but otherwise, i am going to assume that ma people wont come unless they are family...). it is going to be a costume halloween party and i am keeping emersons costume a secret!! she is going to look adorable though and it has been really hard to not make her be yoda this year. while that would be awesomely hilarious, i figure i have to at least vary the ridiculous (lobster) with something a little more "normal"...although it is different and super cute!

also, people have been asking me what they should buy emerson for her birthday. i dont know how kosher it is to do this, but since people are asking, i am eventually going to make a post of bday gift suggestions for her. so if you are interested, that will be coming in the next few weeks, once i figure some more things out. i know a few things..and i know what i want to get her, but i want to make sure of some other things before i go suggesting it as a gift for those who need suggestions. (this by no means is implying that people buy her gifts!! this is just for those who plan to buy something anyway and are at a loss for what to get her)...

well, i probably should go tend to those dishes or maybe some laundry! hope you enjoyed my majorly long post!!

Quote of the Day

About Me

i'm a 31 year old single mom of 2 beautiful girls who are 14 months apart. life is crazy and i am working on trying to figure out this single mom thing...heck, i am still trying to figure out being a mom, let alone a single mom. i love my girls and we are all working on adjusting to our new lives...and each other!